He said
There are plenty of reasons people will gather around to eat chili, indulge in a drink or two and take in a football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens.
You may also know the game as Ray Lewis versus Colin Kaepernick or Harbaugh versus Harbaugh or simply the Super Bowl. I don't know exactly what the stats are, but there are probably fewer people watching this game who are fans of the NFL than who aren't.
I have watched many of these games over the years, and often there are about three people in the room who have watched an NFL game earlier that winter or fall. The rest are there because it's something to do on a Sunday in which there is nothing else to do.
That's why many people do watch the Super Bowl. Nobody likes to compete with the game, so nothing else is planned on Super Bowl Sunday. The NFL pretty well has that day staked as theirs, even in Canada.
Some people are interested in the game, even though the sideshows are so elaborate that they are a distraction while the game is going on. It makes the actual play on the field a bit of an afterthought. Whether you're a football fan or your favourite team made the big game, that's probably why you're watching.
There are many more reasons, however. Maybe you don't like football. That's fine, because if you like shopping, there is lots of that going on too.
Commercials will be more prevalent than anything else this Sunday. Companies really want you to buy their products, and there is perhaps no larger audience available to convince than that watching the Super Bowl.
If you want to buy some music, then listen up because there will be performers before the game, someone singing America's national anthem, maybe with tears in their eyes, and at least one person, but usually several artists, performing some tunes at halftime. If you like what you hear, check them out. There are lots of things to buy on Super Bowl Sunday.
She said
I'll be honest: I'm going to do everything in my power not to watch the Super Bowl this year. I'm sure it's a great spectacle and super exciting, but I know in my heart that I have better things to do. Like laundry - or further ant-removal.
However, there are forces beyond my control in play that often influence me into sitting down and watching at least a portion of the big game.
My boyfriend might be watching the game, at least passively. That means that if we sit down to watch a movie together, he's going to flip to the Super Bowl for the occasional update, just so he stays in the know. I accept this as one of his flaws, and I will likely sit around and wait to resume the movie.
Or I'll get sucked in by one of the commercials, which is another possible reason for me to watch the game. I know the commercials are fabled and blindingly expensive. Knowing that someone spent more money than I'll ever make to put a commercial together for this game makes me curious, so if the game is on around me, I'll hang out and watch for the inevitable breaks when the actual entertainment comes on.
Another possibility is someone will be watching it during work and I'll have no choice but to watch. Sometime our weekend newscasts are moved for NFL football, and if I'm working on the website that day, I have to stay until seven to finish posting the casts to the site. That basically guarantees that one of the male employees, or just the sports department as a whole, will have the game on. I'll be sucked in by the commercials and the players' tight pants... and I'll have no choice but to watch.
As you can tell, I'm thrilled about this upcoming sporting ritual. Actually, I should probably just find out when the game is so I can schedule sometime in the laundry room - or in any room, honestly, where there isn't a male or a TV.
